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From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
[page 1]
Lawrence, May 26, 1856
Dear Father,
Mr[.] Stowell, who you probably recollect seeing last winter, starts back for the East today and I am going to send this letter by him so to have it sure to go. I have not heard from you for some time and am quite anxious to hear. I wrote some time ago to you about sending me a revolver. I want you to send me a first-rate Colt revolver six-inch barrel with the moulds and powder flask all complete. If you can get a thousand of his metallic cartridges to go with the pistol, get them. I should think that somebody that you may know might might make me a present of a pair of revolvers. Uncle Doctor or somebody, but if nobody will, I want you, if you have not yet sent one, to get one and send it and as soon as you can send by some conveyance. If you can't get one yourself, just write to Mr. Stowell and have him get it and have him bring it, unless you have a chance to send it by a trusty man before. I will write his address in this letter before I close. He will come back pretty soon I expect. Come to Worcester and see him if you can possibley. If no one will give me a pistol, I want you to buy one and send or have Stowell buy it and I will pay you sometime when I get more money, if I am not killed. I have not dared to go on to my claim for a week for I have a bitter enemy in a Pro-Slavery man for my next neighbor. I am going out tomorrow but shall not dare to stay at my cabin without a rifle or gun at my bedside. I had about ninety dollars worth of things there when I left there and I should not be surprised to find them all stolen when I get back.
Last Wednesday the ruffians came into town and burnt the hotel, destroyed both printing offices and robbed the town, burnt Dr. Robinson's house. They stole five dollars out of Mr. Stearns house that belonged to Mr. Stowell.
They have done all the mischief they could and now Shannon has called out the troops to protect him for fear we should rise up and exterminate him and the Pro-Slavery party in general. The intelligence has just come in that 5 Pro-Slavery men have been killed about forty miles south of here. And it is supposed to be true about 125 Free State men from that neighborhood had come up within twelve miles of this place and soon they are going back to attend to things there. I have written four sheets the size of this full, giving an account of this war. I have sent it to Appleton and he is to send it to Whitteman, and I want you and he to take pains to show it to anyone that wants to see it, Mr. Webster or Mr. Wheeler or anyone that takes an interest in Kansas. Explain it was written in a hurry and is not a very splendid document, but if folks want to know that facts this is them just as they came under my observation.

In a May 26, 1856 letter to his father in Massachusetts, Edward Fitch describes the Sack of Lawrence that had occurred six days earlier on May 21, 1856. He mentions that Governor Shannon has called for protection “for fear we should rise up and exterminate him and the Pro-Slavery party.” He expresses his own fear that the Free State Party will be defeated and that Kansas will become a slave state. He also fears for his personal safety, saying he ""shall not dare to stay at my cabin without a rifle or gun at my bedside."" He adds that he hopes John C. Fremont will win the upcoming presidential election.

Watkins Community Museum of History 1047 Massachusetts St. Lawrence, KS 66044

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For more information on using this image, contact the Watkins Community Museum of History at: 1047 Massachusetts St., Lawrence KS 66044, Phone: (785) 841-4109, E-mail: info@watkinsmuseum.org Publication, commercial use, or reproduction of this image or the accompanying data requires prior written permission from the Watkins Community Museum of History. Use of this image also requires that credit be given to the Watkins Community Museum of History.

From Edward Fitch to Dear Father
[page 1]
Lawrence, May 26, 1856
Dear Father,
Mr[.] Stowell, who you probably recollect seeing last winter, starts back for the East today and I am going to send this letter by him so to have it sure to go. I have not heard from you for some time and am quite anxious to hear. I wrote some time ago to you about sending me a revolver. I want you to send me a first-rate Colt revolver six-inch barrel with the moulds and powder flask all complete. If you can get a thousand of his metallic cartridges to go with the pistol, get them. I should think that somebody that you may know might might make me a present of a pair of revolvers. Uncle Doctor or somebody, but if nobody will, I want you, if you have not yet sent one, to get one and send it and as soon as you can send by some conveyance. If you can't get one yourself, just write to Mr. Stowell and have him get it and have him bring it, unless you have a chance to send it by a trusty man before. I will write his address in this letter before I close. He will come back pretty soon I expect. Come to Worcester and see him if you can possibley. If no one will give me a pistol, I want you to buy one and send or have Stowell buy it and I will pay you sometime when I get more money, if I am not killed. I have not dared to go on to my claim for a week for I have a bitter enemy in a Pro-Slavery man for my next neighbor. I am going out tomorrow but shall not dare to stay at my cabin without a rifle or gun at my bedside. I had about ninety dollars worth of things there when I left there and I should not be surprised to find them all stolen when I get back.
Last Wednesday the ruffians came into town and burnt the hotel, destroyed both printing offices and robbed the town, burnt Dr. Robinson's house. They stole five dollars out of Mr. Stearns house that belonged to Mr. Stowell.
They have done all the mischief they could and now Shannon has called out the troops to protect him for fear we should rise up and exterminate him and the Pro-Slavery party in general. The intelligence has just come in that 5 Pro-Slavery men have been killed about forty miles south of here. And it is supposed to be true about 125 Free State men from that neighborhood had come up within twelve miles of this place and soon they are going back to attend to things there. I have written four sheets the size of this full, giving an account of this war. I have sent it to Appleton and he is to send it to Whitteman, and I want you and he to take pains to show it to anyone that wants to see it, Mr. Webster or Mr. Wheeler or anyone that takes an interest in Kansas. Explain it was written in a hurry and is not a very splendid document, but if folks want to know that facts this is them just as they came under my observation.